Category: Uncategorized (Page 10 of 10)

David Sedaris’ short story about a young man with O.C.D. is like taking a peek into my classroom. Listen to a great reading of it by Robert Sean Leonard at Selected Shorts. It’s the third one in the podcast.

Last week, I told you about my dilemma: a short story that was accepted for publication a bit prematurely. Today I found an answer. After writing one of my advisors at grad school, I decided to rewrite the story (including some suggestions from my workshop) and ask the editor to take the new, improved version.

It was a delicate negotiation, but after several emails he agreed to most of the changes. So the story will be coming out in the Summer 2013 edition of Big Pulp.

He seemed to take it as a matter of course. I imagine I’m not the first neurotic writer to demand a last-minute rewrite.

Thanks to Bonnie Jo Campbell for her advice on how to handle it like a pro.

This is my last semester in grad school. By January I can add MFA to all my other letters. First, I’ve got to hunker down and finish editing the novel. Four months can’t be that long, can it?

Word today came in over the electronic wire that Big Pulp Magazine had accepted my short story “Catching a Case,” about a prison doctor who feels compelled to discover the source of a patient’s injuries. This should be great news. The story is one I’ve been working on for over a year and which I thought was finished. That is, until I submitted it to my workshop group in school. They found a dozen faults with it (as workshops will tend to do).

A week later the editor of Big Pulp wrote back to say he liked it as is and would publish it. [I know, never submit a story until it’s really done. But there was a contest with a theme (gay crime and mystery), and the story fit, and the deadline was before my workshop, so . . .]

What can I do?

Today I was shooting the shit with my roommates in grad school after watching a bunch of published writers reading their stories.  We all agreed that too many authors do themselves a disservice with their public readings.  Monotone voices, sing song deliveries, and predictable rhythms all make for dull listening.  Why don’t more pros get voice coaching, or at least take an acting class at their local cc?  If you’re going to drive all night, sleep in a cheap motel, track down some obscure bookstore, and drag around copies of your latest tome, why wouldn’t you practice your delivery first?